The student leaders in my Leadership Training Course have been responsible for setting up our new schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) initiative for our PK-8 school. They sought students' voices regarding our schoolwide behavior expectations and matrix. They also worked on obtaining prizes for students who earn WEIS Bucks for following our schoolwide expectations (Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe) by writing to 55 community businesses. Their next step in developing our program is teaching the elementary students and their middle school peers about the behavioral expectations. They will do this through student-created videos. Student-produced videos will help send positive messaging about our schoolwide behavior expectations.

In the fall of the 2023-2024 school year, only 54.5% of students reported a sense of belonging to Waimanalo Elementary and Intermediate School, as evidenced by the Panorama Social-Emotional Learning Survey. Data also indicate that attendance and school safety are school needs.

We hope this project will decrease negative behavior and help students feel safe again. In addition to these videos focused on PBIS, they will also produce fun videos that support positive school culture, climate, and pride. Recently, our group has also been charged with capturing memories and putting together our yearbook, which will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Waimanalo School. We need additional equipment to do this.

This proposed project will help our student leaders play a role in addressing some of these needs and possibly identifying and working toward solutions. Based on the research, we know that when students have authentic experiences and audiences like the ones outlined in this proposal, they are more likely to be engaged in their learning, and the quality of their work increases. We also know from the literature that building students' sense of agency is key to engagement and future learning.